HE WAS the first ever disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1, but it seems Tony Blackburn has some strong views on women broadcasters in modern society.

Tony, 71, waded in on a debate currently swirling about 5 Live replacing two of their female DJs, Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty, with male stars.

The veteran DJ reportedly said the ­corporation’s decision to replace the two female DJs with men was fine, and that, in fact, there weren't enough men in the business.

He said: "If you look at the news channels, they are all women. I don’t think there are enough men. I think we should get more men on.”

The star added: “I think there are quite a lot of women actually.

The star said he didn't think there were enough men on Radio 5 Live [GETTY]

It's been 50 years since he started out in broadcasting [GETTY]

“But during the day, women have always preferred the voices of men. I have no idea why.There is nothing to stop women coming into ­broadcasting. There are loads on BBC Radio 2."

Victoria Derbyshire, one of the two female presenters replaced by men, has refused to comment on the situation.

What she did say was she was "proud" of her time at the station and felt like she and Shelagh Fogarty were "strong female journalists".

She said: “Two strong female ­journalists have presented their own programme, in my case for 10 years. We have grown the audience, won awards, broken exclusives and done strong, original journalism.

"That is something the team can be really proud of.”

Victoria Derbyshire (L) has been replaced by a man, sparking fierce debate about sexism [TWITTER]

The BBC Trust reportedly warned 5 Live just two years ago that the channel must aim for a “more even balance” of listeners; Men currently make up 72% of its 6.7 million weekly audience.

Things have changed rather a lot since Tony made his first broadcast 50 years ago - Sir Alec Douglas-Home was prime minister, the price of the average house was £3,360 and A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles topped the charts.

The evergreen disc jockey, who presents five weekly radio shows, has received a gold award at the Radio Academy Awards to mark his career milestone and will be honoured this week with a special programme on Radio 2.

As Blackburn celebrates his professional half-century, the good news for the indefatigable DJ's millions of fans is that he has no plans to retire.